Chapter 30: Modernism and Postmodernism in Chapter Sheet
Europe and America, 1945-1980
Preview: In the decades following World War II, art reflected the upheaval in society, expressing postwar anxiety, the values of the emerging feminist and the civil rights movements, and reflecting on the new consumer society. Some artists chose a more formalist track, pursuing chromatic abstraction in painting and minimalist sculptural form. Architecture developed in two directions—modernists pursued idiosyncratic, expressive forms or more stripped-down, “International Style” designs, while postmodernists combined styles and explicitly employed historical ornaments. Beginning in the 1960s, artists pursued alternative approaches including performance and conceptualism, and by the 1970s, the new media of video, sound, and computer-generated art were widely practiced and exhibited.
List of Artworks (30 Cards Total)
1. Chapter 30 Context Card
Postwar Expressionism in Europe:
2. Alberto Giacometti, Man Pointing No. 5, 1947—pg. 901
3. Francis Bacon, Painting, 1946—pg. 901
Abstract Expressionism:
4. Jackson Pollock, Number 1, 1950 (Lavender Mist), 1950—pg. 903
5. Willem de Kooning, Woman I, 1950-1952—pg. 905
6. Barnett Newman, Vir Heroicus Sublimis, 1950-1951—pg. 906
7. Mark Rothko, No. 14, 1960—pg. 906
Post-Painterly Abstraction:
8. Ellsworth Kelly, Red Blue Green, 1963—pg. 907
9. Helen Frankenthaler, The Bay, 1963—pg. 908
Op Art:
10. Bridget Riley, Fission, 1963—pg. 909
Abstraction in Sculpture:
11. David Smith, Cubi XII, 1963—pg. 910
12. Donald Judd, Untitled, 1969—pg. 911
13. Louise Nevelson, Tropical Garden II, 1957-1959—pg. 912
Pop Art:
14. Jasper Johns, Three Flags, 1958—pg. 914
15. Robert Rauschenberg, Canyon, 1959—pg. 914
16. Roy Lichtenstein, Hopeless, 1963—pg. 915
17. Andy Warhol, Green Coca-Cola Bottles, 1962—pg. 916
a. Warhol, Marilyn Diptych, 1962—pg. 916
18. Claes Oldenburg, Lipstick (Ascending) on Caterpillar Tracks, 1969, reworked, 1974—pg. 917
Superrealism:
19. Audrey Flack, Marilyn, 1977—pg. 917
20. Chuck Close, Big Self-Portrait, 1967-1968—pg.918
21. Duane Hanson, Supermarket Shopper, 1970—pg. 919
Photography:
22. Diane Arbus, Child with Toy Hand Grenade in Central Park, NYC, 1962—pg.920
Feminist Art:
23. Judy Chicago, The Dinner Party, 1979—pg. 921
24. Cindy Sherman, Untitled Film Still #35, 1979 **ON THE TEST!!**--pg. 923
25. Ana Mendieta, Flowers on Body, 1973—pg. 923
Modernism:
26. Frank Lloyd Wright, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (looking southeast), New York, 1943-1959—pg. 925
Postmodernism:
27. Robert Smithson, Spiral Jetty, Great Salt Lake, Utah, 1970—pg.933
Performance Art:
28. Joseph Beuys, How to Explain Pictures to a Dead Hare (performance at Schmela Gallery, Düsseldorf), 1965—pg. 935
Conceptual Art:
29. Joseph Kosuth, One and Three Chairs, 1965—pg. 936
New Media:
30. Nam June Paik, Video still from Global Groove, 1973—pg. 938
Key Figures: Clement Greenberg
Key Cultural Terms & Events: World War II (1939-1945), Existentialism
Key Art Terms: formalism, Abstract Expressionism, color field painting, action painting, Minimalism, Op Art, Pop Art, conceptualism, feminism, performance art, modernism, postmodernism, site-specificity
Exercises for Study:
1. What is feminist art? Select a work of feminist art and describe how it expresses feminist tenets.
2. Select a modernist work of art and a postmodernist work of art. Compare and contrast their treatment of subjects.
3. What is site-specificity? Select a work of architecture or art that is site-specific and discuss how it functions in relation to its site.
4. Compare and contrast the following pairs of artworks, using the points of comparison as a guide.
A. Jackson Pollock, Number 1, 1950 (Lavender Mist) (fig. 30-6); Ellsworth Kelly, Red Blue Green, 1963 (Fig. 30-11)
· Style:
· Application of paint:
· Themes:
B. Chuck Close, Big Self-Portrait (Fig. 30-28); Cindy Sherman, Untitled Film Still #35 (Fig. 30-35)
· Media:
· Formal style:
· Subjects:
· Practice of self-portraiture: